It’s Photoshop Idol Time Again!

It’s getting close to LAdobe’s 4th Anniversary and as spring has sprung yet again,, it’s time to roll out our 4th annual Photoshop Idol competition to find the next great designer in Los Angeles and Southern California.

If you’re familiar with our previous competitions, Photoshop Idol normally is where we select three or four great portfolios and have them come to our LAdobe May meeting to compete live as they have 15 minutes to create a composition using nothing more than Photoshop, a web browser and three key ‘ingredients’ selected at random. The best design of the night wins Idol and the latest copy of Creative Suite and other great prizes from our sponsors.

This year, we’re stirring up the formula and changing things around for one year and one year only.

Many of you know that once again, Adobe is presenting it’s annual MAX user conference in LA this October and once again, LAdobe and its’ sister user groups in LA and Orange County will be presenting MiniMAX X for the locals who can’t attend either due to the excessive cost or being unable to attend due to work schedules. So once again, on October 27th, we’ll present MiniMAX at a location in Santa Monica (exact location to be determined) with six speakers each spending 15 minutes presenting tips and tricks on all sorts of Adobe apps from Photoshop to After Effects. Last year, we had a surprise when one of the keynoters showed up and did a ‘mini’ keynote presentation on the FedEx calculator created in Flex. Who knows what will happen this year on the Westside?

But we need a little help from you.

We need a logo.

If you were at our meeting this past Thursday night, you know what we’re talking about. We’re looking for someone to creatively design a logo best emphasizing the tenth edition of MiniMAX. The logo can be themed anyway you like. Obviously think of Southern California and Los Angeles but go beyond the obvious ‘Hollywood Sign’ or ‘Beach Scene’ you see everywhere. Let’s see some real creativity!

The rules are simple. Just email your logos to LAdobe. They can be created in any program (Yes, we’ll even accept Microsoft Expression!) and can even be scans from pencil sketches. We’ll work with you on the final design if we see promise. The entries should be emailed around 8 1/2 x 11 inches or around 640×480 pixels at 72 or 96 dpi. Please do not email at print resolution (150-300dpi or more) as they will be disqualified. You can send as many entries as you like. However, only one entry per person will make the finals so we can have at least three participants. On Thursday Night, May 27th at Key Code Media in Santa Monica, we will have the finals with LAdobe managers Adam Bell and Michele Weisbart presiding along with our special guest speaker, Photoshop Cafe’s Colin Smith, who helped judge the first Photoshop Idol. Each finalist must appear that evening and do a short presentation (anywhere from 2-5 minutes) describing the logo and his or her thoughts in creating it. If the finalist does not appear by 8pm on the evening of May 27th, they are disqualified. Contestants must live in Los Angeles or Orange County, CA.

The winner of Photoshop Idol 2010 will receive a copy of one of the three bundles (Print, Production, Video) of the brand new Creative Suite 5, 2 plugin sets from Alien Skin Software and a series of books from Peachpit Press. More prizes will be announced at a later time as part of the winners’ package. All finalists will receive one Photoshop book from Peachpit as well as some swag from Adobe.

The cost of entering all LAdobe competitions is always free and complimentary and you have until May 1 to submit your entries to us. So get sketching, drawing, illustrating and thinking of what you think will be the best logo to represent MiniMAX X and GOOD LUCK to all!